AIPAC applauds the House’s passage of the U.S.-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012—which the Senate approved on June 29. The bill will now go to the President for his signature.

The United States benefits greatly through enhanced cooperation with Israel. This bipartisan bill recommends new avenues to grow and strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship in the fields of missile defense, homeland security, energy, intelligence, and cyber-security (read the bill summary).

Israel is an anchor of stability in an increasingly unstable region. As uncertainty on the Jewish state’s borders grows and tremendous changes jeopardizing American and Israeli security interests sweep the Middle East, this bill sends a powerful signal that the United States and its ally Israel will stand shoulder-to-shoulder.

AIPAC applauds the efforts of key Congressional leaders to ensure this bill’s passage. The Senate bill was spearheaded by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), while the House bill was led by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also played key roles in the bill’s approval while Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), and Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Howard Berman (D-CA) were instrumental in getting this bill passed.

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Consistently ranked as the most influential foreign policy lobbying organization on Capitol Hill, AIPAC is a bipartisan American membership organization that seeks to strengthen the relationship between the United States and Israel. For more than 50 years, AIPAC has been working with Congress to build a strong, vibrant relationship between the U.S. and Israel. With more than 100,000 members across the United States, AIPAC works throughout the country to improve and strengthen that relationship by supporting U.S.-Israel military, economic, scientific and cultural cooperation.